The British Judo Association, the national governing body for British Judo, has today (Monday 11 December) announced the Olympic and Paralympic athletes selected for its World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) for 2017 – 2018.

Funded by the National Lottery through UK Sport, WCPP selection is based upon a set of criteria including potential to medal at future Olympic and Paralympic Games, results in the past year, and expected professional behaviours of an Elite athlete.

For 2017 – 2018, four athletes will be supported through the Olympic and Paralympic Podium programmes.  There will also be 20 Olympic and Paralympic athletes on the respective Podium Potential programmes. All Podium and Podium Potential athletics receive an Athlete Performance Award (APA) to support their Judo programme.

In addition to this, five athletes are being offered support in the British Judo Academy Programme which is funded directly by British Judo. This provides a stepping stone from the Home Nations programme with the goal to transfer them onto the Podium or Podium Potential Programmes within 18 – 24 months.

All athletes from Podium to Academy receive a Coach led Individual Athlete Plan (IAP) with agreed training and competition goals, BOA Medical insurance and are supported by a comprehensive Sports Science and Sports Medicine programme and services.

Athletes exiting off the WCPP will receive transitional APA support as well as identified programme support for a period of time, which is based on the number of years they have been a member of the British Judo World Class Performance Programme.

Nigel Donohue, British Judo Performance Director, said: “Following on from Rio, the first year in the Tokyo cycle has been extremely positive with significant performances and results at Milestone Targeted events, the Senior World Championships and IBSA European Championships, where Nekoda Davis and Natalie Powell won Bronze – our first World Championships medals since 2010 and Chris Skelley became IBSA European Champion.”

“Additionally, our Junior programme has continued to consistently develop athletes within the system. We medalled in our 5th consecutive Junior European Championships and our 3rd consecutive Junior World Championships, which bodes well for our programme as we focus on Tokyo 2020, but also continue to plan and prepare ahead for Paris 2024.

“I cannot thank enough the work of our Coaches and Sports Science and Medicine team who strive to deliver the best that any athlete could wish for on a day-to-day basis and most importantly, the athletes, who work as hard as they possibly can to ensure that they continue to develop as athletes and people to achieve their annual goals.

“I’d like to thank the British Judo community for their continued support of the athletes and the programme. 2018 will be a stronger year and I have every confidence in the athletes and the programme that we will continue to build on this year’s success as we prepare for Tokyo 2020.”

Athletes on British Judo WCPP 2017 – 2018

PODIUM (4)

Olympic

Athlete	Home Club	Home Coach
Sally Conway	Edinburgh Judo Club	Billy Cusack
Amy Livesey	S.K.K. Judo Club	Peter Blood
Natalie Powell	Irfon Judo Club	Darren Warner
Nekoda Smythe-Davis	Ealing Judo Club	Jo Crowley

 

PODIUM POTENTIAL (20)

Olympic

Athlete	Home Club	Home Coach
Philip Awiti-Alcaraz	Enfield Judo Club	George Hyslop
Chelsie Giles	Coventry Judo Club	Simon Moss
Samuel Hall	Ryecroft Judo Club	Ian Oliver
Eric Ham	Glossop Judo Club	Geoff Ham
Gemma Howell	Wolverhampton Judo Club	Bill Kelly
Bekky Livesey	S.K.K. Judo Club	Peter Blood
Neil MacDonald	SJCA	Stephen Somerville
Stuart McWatt	Garioch Judo Club	Stuart McWatt Snr
Jamal Petgrave	Westcroft Judo Club	Andy Ede
Lubjana Piovesana	Bishop Challoner RC School JC	Phil Hudson
Daniel Powell	N/A	N/A
Lucy Renshall	S.K.K. Judo Club	Peter Blood
Kelly Staddon	Ford Judo Club	Bill Taylor
Max Stewart	Stewart Judo Academy	Dennis Stewart
Acelya Toprak	Metro Judo Club	Mick Murphy
Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown	Ryecroft Judo Club	Ian Oliver

 

Paralympic

Athlete	Home Club	Home Coach
Jack Hodgson	Grimsby Judo Club	Terry Alltoft
Evan Molloy	Devizes Judo Club	N/A
Chris Skelley	Haltemprice Judo Club	Jeff Brady
Elliot Stewart	Stewart Judo Academy	Dennis Stewart

 

ACADEMY (5)

Athlete	Home Club	Home Coach
Wesley Greenidge	Enfield Judo Club	George Hyslop
Shelley Ludford	Judo Club Osaka	Adrian Dove
Lele Nairne	Bradley Stoke Judo Club	Pete Douglas
Olivia Piechota	JSC/Harris	John Cottis
Scott Thomson	Danderhall Judo Club/Destination Judo	Dave Reilly/Colin Woods